The Beer Nut: N.E. breweries shine at craft beer fest

Wednesday

Jun 4, 2014 at 12:56 PMJun 4, 2014 at 12:57 PM

By Norman MillerDaily News Staff

This past weekendís Beer Advocate American Craft Beer Fest was a fine showcase for the great strides made by New Englandís brewers over the last few years.Of the 144 breweries in attendance, more than 90 were from the six New England states.Sure, the Beer Advocate festival was held at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, so youíd expect that most of the breweries would be from the region. That hasnít always been the case, however. New England has always been well represented, but this year New England breweries dominated the event.Massachusetts had the best representation of the New England states - 51 breweries. Sixteen breweries in attendance were from Maine, nine were from New Hampshire, eight from Vermont, four from Rhode Island and three were from Connecticut.But itís not the number of breweries that was the most impressive thing about the New England breweries at the American Craft Beer Fest. The most impressive thing was the quality of the beers. There were several breweries offering world-class beers that were the standouts of the festival.The best beer I tried was Peril by Lawsonís Finest Liquids, a tiny brewery in Vermont.. This double IPA, coming in at 11.1 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), was one of those standup-and-take-notice beers. The aroma of grapefruit and pine hits you right away, and when you take a sip, pine and citrus hit you. Itís smooth and almost thick, like a creamy stout.Iíve been drinking double IPAs for years now and they rarely impress me. Peril blew me away.Two other double IPAs tasted at the festival were also very impressive. Trillium Brewing Companyís Mettle, an 8.7 percent ABV double IPA, and Tree House Brewing and Lawsonís collaboration beer, YAHHRRGGG!, were both fantastic.Itís not all about hops, though. Prodigal Brewery at Misty Mountain Farm in New Hampshire is one of the best breweries but is not well known. This tiny brewery makes exceptional German-style beers, and the beers they brought to the fest were no exception. If you get a chance, seek out Prodigal beers.Newer breweries also had excellent showings at the festival. Breweries that were just a year old, give or take a few months, had some really good beers.Banded Horn Brewing Company of Maine, which opened its doors earlier this year, shined with its 9.1 percent ABV double IPA Binary as well as its Pepperell Pilsner. Foundation Brewery, also of Maine, brought three very good saisons, while Bog Iron of Norton, Mass., brought a wine-barrel aged lambic that was off-the-charts good.Massachusetts' two newest breweries, Abandoned Brewing Company of Easthampton and Aeronaut Brewing Company of Somerville, made good first impressions. Abandoned Brewery brought four beers, including the tasty Dirty Girl IPA.Aeronaut conducted an experiment asking patrons to taste the same beer that was brewed with the same type of hops but grown in different parts of the country. They wanted to see if people could taste the difference in the hops based on the location where they were grown. It was an interesting experiment, and there were differences.All in all, New England breweries really dazzled the beer drinkers at the festival, and Iím looking forward to seeing the regionís beer businesses grow in the coming years.Email Norman Miller at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter at @realbeernut. Also check out "Norman Miller, The Beer Nut" on Facebook.